Nelson Mandela had said: "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."In Kate Avery Ellison's Frost this was most definitely true.

Life is hard in Frost for everyone. If the cold and the lack of supplies doesn't do the villagers of Iceliss in, the Watchers sure do a good job of it. Terrifying monsters that feast on humans and come out after dark. But if things are tough for the regular folks of the Frost, they are definitely the toughest for Lia Weaver and her siblings. Living in an isolated farm, surrounded by the treacherous forest, the eldest Weaver has to fight everyday to make sure her family survives. With an air-headed sister, and a crippled brother, keeping up with the chores and her duties is a task in itself. Lia knows that she has no other choice, though. She must lower her head and tolerate that. All until her sister finds a wounded Farther in the woods. Now, the Weavers must not only fight to keep him safe, but they also have to accept their parents' legacy and secrets, all the while Farthers and traitors from the village pursue the mysterious young man they saved... Can Lia and her siblings survive against all odds and help Gabe escape? Or will they, too, fall victims to the same dangers their parents couldn't fight off?

I've been reading so many books that were not worth my time lately, I was reluctant to pick this one up. But hey, can you blame me?

So you can imagine how glad I was to find out that this story was not only worth it, it was also mind-numbing and breathtaking! A tale that brought shivers down my spine, not because it was frightening or way too emotional, but because there was so much suspense and you didn't know who to trust, who to believe, who to blame. Backstabbing at every corner, secrets so deadly that could cost the safety of an entire village - as if the dangers that the natural environment the characters lived in had to offer weren't enough. And in the middle of it all, Lia, a main heroine that is nothing like the ones we're used to!

See, Lia isn't brave or strong or even a super genius or extreme beauty or something. No, Lia was a normal girl, who was really hated by fate, it seemed, and had to care for her siblings as if she was their mother. Never mind the fact she was young and at the perfect age to get married, too, she kept all her problems in just to ensure her family stayed together. Forced to grow up before she was ready for it, forced to face the dangers of the forest to get to her village so many times a week and having to deal with villagers who did nothing to help her, one would expect her to be emotionally strong and stable. But she was anything but. In fact, the poor girl was scared out of her wits, and half of the time she was either panicking or trying to fix things up even if she knew she couldn't. The fact that Ivy, her sister, didn't seem to possess a lick of common sense in that head of hers made things worse, too. It was simply heart-breaking to see Lia try to deal with her problems, while at the same time, everyone around her tried to make her neglect her duties - and yet they acted shocked any time she would crack a smile or laugh, how ironic...

Even so, she put on her big girl panties, and faced the problems that came her way despite trembling inside. Gradually she kept being bolder and braver, and that showed how fast she was growing up into a wonderful woman - emotionally and mentally. Her connection to Gabe, the Farther, was a sweet one, and totally suited her personality and social position. It was nice to see the writer stick to the character she had created, and make her something more than just a mere farmer girl.

The story starts in a scary way, one that puts the reader right in the middle of the whole problem - the Watchers could pounce on the path any given moment while Lia was describing the situation in the first chapter, after all - and it onle escalated from there. I loved how the everyday life activities were not left out, but they were not stressed in the plot, either. Instead, the pace picked up over such moments, so that we could focus on the main storyline instead. Which was much appreciated, considering the tangled mess that was the political situation in this book.

All in all, a delight to read and experience - yes, it's impossible not to "live" the story through Lia's eyes, the narration is just that close and personal. Now that the truth is out in the open, I can't wait to see how much more the Weavers will evolve as characters, and what other dangers their actions will bring forth as consequences!

***I was given a review copy from a LibraryThing Member Giveaway in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.*** ( )

Frost is enjoyable and compelling tale that the reader can imagine s/he is experiencing personally. The characters are well-developed and demonstrate real human strengths and weaknesses that come to play in an imaginary setting that seems more real with every turn of the page. It's good to know there are sequels and to look forward to following the fates and futures of the Weaver family. ( )

.Enjoyed this book. Unique plot surrounding Les Gabe and Adam. The story needs to continue is there a sequal out there. Does Gabe survive, do they see each other again. brilliantly discribed, the cold the danger their terror. need more. ( )

Wow, I was genuinely surprised (and delighted) with how much I liked this book. I hadn't heard of it prior to seeing it available for a LibraryThing giveaway, but it sounded intriguing--and it didn't disappoint.

Overall, I really enjoyed the lyrical, evocative writing. Some of my favorite turns of phrase were from Chapter 2. Occasionally I noticed, in the middle chapters, that there was a tendency to overuse sentences of the following formula: shivers crawled down my spine/terror crept over me/etc. (those weren't quotes, but I remember once finding it slightly jarring that there were so many phrases of the like). But it didn't persist, and the end of the novel didn't jar me in that way. I also found the pacing appropriate, and I was actually a huge fan of the world-building. I loved that, in a relatively short fantasy novel, I still felt like I was getting a good sense of the world the characters were living in, and I loved that it never felt like I was being force-fed large draughts of information about it--I honestly felt like I was getting to discover it slowly, comfortably, enjoyably on my own.

I also really loved the characters. Generally believable and interesting, and you get an idea that you know what's driving each one forward, though sometimes I did feel like I wanted more (what Lia and Cole's friendship had been like, for example--there must have been a reason he liked her, and she had to like him at least a little bit, at least in a friendly way, right?). Adam interested me the most off the bat--complex, well-drawn.

The romance, too, was simple--and at times slightly dramatic for me (but I like romances to be really, really subtle, especially in the beginning stages), when they had barely met and Lia already started thinking she might have feelings for Gabe. But overall, still really tasteful, simple, and sweet. I enjoyed it a lot.

Some typos throughout, but overall fairly cleanly proofread; not enough to greatly detract from reading. As a sidenote, I really, really love the names that Ellison chose--such beautiful names, both for characters and places. And I really liked the simple yet descriptive names she chose for various elements of Frost lore--Watchers, Farthers, etc. Sometimes overly technological/convoluted/complex/silly sounding names, especially in sci-fi, make it really hard for me to follow along seriously.

I definitely want to read on for the rest of the series, as well as The Curse Girl. I'll be looking out for Ellison's work from now on.

P.S. I'm so sad that I happened to just miss the Kindle Daily Deal special on the Frost Chronicles! If only I had finished this book one day earlier. Alas... ( )

Lia Weaver lives in the icy, monster-plagued land of the Frost. Monsters kill her parents, so she must keep the family farm running. Dangers surround her, but then she decides to save the life of a stranger who turns out to be a fugitive from people the denizens of the Frost call Farthers. This is the saga of Lia's efforts to help him escape despite her falling in love with him.

In my opinion, this is a well conceived, though simplistic coming-of-age story. There are parallels with the hiding of Jews and PoW escapees in WW2 and assisting them to escape the country. I would recommend this book to young adults. ( )